It's not easy being a teenaged martial artist named Ranma Saotome, but it's even worse when your martial artist father Genma takes you from home at an early age to go on a decade long training mission. He doesn't speak a word of Chinese and yet he insists on bringing you to the cursed training ground known as Jusenkyo, where falling into one of the many springs instantly turns into whoever - or whatever - drowned there last. And then the two of you have this little accident...

From now on, a splash of cold water will turn your father into a giant panda, while you... well, you turn into a red-haired (and incredibly well-built) female version of yourself. Hot water will reverse the effect, but only until the next time. What's a half-guy, half-girl to do? (Synopsis courtesy of animenewsnetwork.com)